Grocery Store No.514

The door of the store was vigorously pushed open, followed by a heavy smell of alcohol, and a drunken man stumbled in.

The drunk man slapped the cashier’s table harshly and shouted loudly, “Wine! Give Lao Tzu some wine, Lao Tzu has money…”

The strong stench of wine rushed to his face, causing Ling Hua’an’s stomach to churn.
He frowned and said, “Sorry, there is no wine in our store.”

“No? How… How could there be no wine? Do you also think that I have no… no money?”

Ling Hua’an leaned back, avoiding the saliva sprayed by the drunk man, “Sorry, we don’t sell alcohol in our store.”

“I don’t believe it! You must be lying.
If you don’t give me wine, I’ll… I’ll destroy your shop!” The drunken man wanted to reach out and pull Ling Hua’an’s collar, but he staggered down on the cash register making stuff that was placed on it suddenly scattered all over the floor.

Ling Hua’an took out a spell from his pocket and chanted the spell silently.
A gust of wind blew over the drunken man.
He felt a chill on the back of his neck before he lost consciousness.
The drunken man, who had been delirious, slowly stood up straight and said with a smile, “Hello, Ling Laoban, you haven’t invited me here for a long time.”

Ling Hua’an said lightly, “Get out! Your service fee will be paid to you tomorrow morning.”

“Okay.
Ling Laoban, if there is such a good thing, you must remember to call me, then I…” The drunk man turned to look out the window and said, “Hey, there is a man peeping outside the door, do you want me to take care of him too?”

“A man?” Ling Hua’an raised his eyebrows and said, “You can go.
Let this drunken man stay.
He also should pay a lot of service fees.”

The drunken man was stunned and didn’t ask any further questions.
A ghost floated out of the drunken man.
He waved at Ling Hua’an before turning and leaving.

The drunken man regained his senses.
He shook his head in a daze, and looked at Ling Hua’an, “I… hic…I asked you to bring wine, you… what the hell are you doing.”

“Sorry, we don’t sell alcohol in our store.
You are not welcome here.
Please leave now.”

“Damn it.
I see you… you fucking owe it to me.” The drunken man stepped forward again and wanted to grab Ling Hua’an’s collar.
This time, Ling Hua’an didn’t hide.
That drunkard got him easily.

Dīng líng líng

The bell sounded again.
Jiang Chengyan walked in and shouted with an ugly face, “Stop, let him go!”

The drunken man turned his head to look at Jiang Chengyan, and snapped, “You… who the hell are you, mind your own business!”

Jiang Chengyan didn’t talk anymore, he took a step forward to grab the drunken man’s wrist.
Subdued him at once, and handcuffed him.

“You… Who the fuck are you.
Let me go, let me go.” The drunken man kept struggling.

Jiang Chengyan ignored it.
He looked at Ling Hua’an, and asked with concern, “Hua’an, are you okay?”

Ling Hua’an shook his head, “I’m fine.
Thank you, Captain Jiang.”

Jiang Chengyan breathed a sigh of relief, took out his mobile phone, and dialed a number.
“Old Zhang, there is a drunkard causing trouble here.
Come and bring him back and sober him up.”
After a while, a police officer on duty came from the opposite side and took the drunken man away.

Ling Hua’an turned out of the cashier’s counter,  fumbling to clean up the things that fell to the ground, but Jiang Chengyan grabbed his wrist and said,  “I’ll clean it up, see if there’s any damage.”

Ling Hua’an broke away from his hand and said coldly, “Thank you for helping me out just now.
I won’t bother Captain Jiang with these matters.

“Hua’an…” Ling Hua’an coldness made Jiang Chengyan feel pain in his heart.

Ling Hua’an ignored Jiang Chengyan and groped for things on the ground little by little, but Jiang Chengyan grabbed his wrist again.

Jiang Chengyan took a deep breath and said with a bitter smile, “Hua’an, I’m sorry, I’m wrong today.
I apologize to you, and I don’t know what’s wrong with me.
Don’t be like this, okay?”

“You’re right.
The extra money you gave me before, I will count it and pay you back.” Ling Hua’an struggled again, but this time it didn’t break away so easily.

Jiang Chengyan felt uncomfortable in his heart.
He tightly clutched Ling Hua’an’s wrist, and anxiously explained, “Hua’an, I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s been going on recently. I always suffer from gains and losses1…Hua’an, I don’t mean to distance myself from you.
I just… I’m sorry, forgive me, okay?”

“Let go.” Ling Hua’an looked at the wrist he was holding.

“I won’t let it go unless you forgive me.” Jiang Chengyan was stunned for the first time after the words were out of his mouth.
How could this —almost coquettish— tone be said from his mouth.

Ling Hua’an was also taken aback, but he regained his senses soon, “If you don’t let go, I’ll call the police.”

“I won’t let go.
The police station is full of my people, you can report it.” Anyway, it’s already like this.
Jiang Chengyan simply broke the pot2.
The main reason is that he has never coaxed people.
He really doesn’t know what to do.

Ling Hua’an almost couldn’t hold back his amusement and asked, “Captain Jiang, what do you mean by that?”

“I don’t mean anything, I just want to make up with you.
Hua’an, I didn’t feel like this before, but now when you’re cold to me, I feel very uncomfortable.” Jiang Chengyan confessed his honest feelings inside his heart.
The more he talked, the more wronged he felt.

“Why? Why does Captain Jiang feel wronged?”

“No.” Jiang Chengyan shook his head, “Hu’an, I’m sorry, I was wrong before.
You can make me apologize as much as you like in any way.
Can you please don’t get angry with me?”

Ling Hua’an looked at Jiang Chengyan and said blankly, “Anything I want?”

Jiang Chengyan hesitated for a moment and said, “As long as you don’t break the law, you can do anything.”

“Okay.
That’s what you said, don’t regret it.”

Looking into Ling Hua’an’s eyes, Jiang Chengyan felt like he was falling into a pit.
He asked nervously, “Then…what do you want me to do?”

“Whenever I call you, you have to pick it up.
Can you do it?”

Jiang Chengyan said with some difficulty, “But I still have work ……”

“I won’t bother you during working hours.
How about that, promise?”

Jiang Chengyan nodded quickly.
When he thought that he would see Ling Hua’an often in the future, he couldn’t tell how happy he was, “Okay, I promise.
Then do you forgive me?”
Ling Hua’an raised his hand and said, “Let go.”

Jiang Chengyan not only did not let go but tightened his strength, “Hua’an, I have promised, do you still not forgive me?”

Ling Hua’an said in amusement, “If you don’t let me go, how will you clean up this?”
Jiang Chengyan’s eyes lit up and he asked, “So do you forgive me?”

“En.
Let go quickly and clean up.”

“Mm-hmm.” Jiang Chengyan hurriedly let go of Ling Hua’an, but he saw a red mark on Ling Hua’an’s wrist.

Ling Hua’an just wanted to take back his hand, but he was being held again.
He said reluctantly, “Captain Jiang, you can let go now.”

Jiang Chengyan touched Ling Hua’an’s wrist and said in guilt, “Hua’an, I’m sorry.
I didn’t have a light hand, but I made your wrist red, does it hurt?”

“It’s okay.
My skin is like this, it will turn blue with a little touch.“ Ling Hua’an tried to let go once again and said, “ Captain Jiang, if you don’t let go, I think you are taking advantage of me.”

Jiang Chengyan was startled, and hurriedly let go as if he had been burned.
He looked at Ling Hua’an with a guilty feeling and blushed, “Well Hua’an, you rest.
I’ll take care of this.”

A smile flashed in Ling Hua’an’s eyes, he stood up and said, “Then it will trouble the Captain Jiang.”

“No trouble.” Jiang Chengyan couldn’t help but stand up after him as well.

Ling Hua’an planned to go back to the cash register, but he could not find what he was stepping on that made him slip, and could not hold himself.
Ling Hua’an’s right-handed instinct was to grasp something.
When he heard Jiang Chengyan’s anxious voice, he loosened his hand and let his body collide with Jiang Chengyan.
With a “bang” the two fell to the ground.
Jiang Chengyan, who was at the bottom, had no time to groan, and a warm touch suddenly came to his lips.
In front of him was Ling Hua’an’s handsome face.

Ling Hua’an was also stunned but quickly returned to his senses.
He calmly got up, and asked, “Captain Jiang, are you okay?”

“I’m not…it’s fine.” Jiang Chengyan returned to his senses.
He touched his lips subconsciously“Are you sure? If there is any injury, let’s go to the hospital.
” and then touched his beating heart, only to feel that his face was burning badly.

“Are you sure? If there is any injury, let’s go to the hospital.
“

“I’m really fine, don’t worry.” Jiang Chengyan sat up and glanced away with an uncomfortable feeling.
But then couldn’t help but look at Ling Hua’an’s lips.

“It’s good if it’s okay.
Thank you for Captain Jiang just now.
I have to trouble Captain Jiang to clean up the things.
If there are guests coming later, it’s not good to slide again.”

“Ok.” Jiang Chengyan looked at Ling Hua’an’s thin lips again and couldn’t move his eyes.
He didn’t hear what Ling Hua’an just said.

“Captain Jiang? Captain Jiang?”

“What? Oh, Hua’an, let me help you.
“Jiang Chengyan hesitated for a moment, then stretched out his hand to hold Ling Hua’an’s hand.
Seeing that he didn’t break free, his heart couldn’t help but rejoice, indescribably at ease.
He helped Ling Hua’an sit on the chair and reluctantly released his hand before went to clean up the things scattered on the ground.

He then cleans up all the broken things.
After finishing it, he saw Ling Hua’an standing in front of him with a glass of milk and said, “have some milk, it’s still warm.”

Jiang Chengyan felt warm  inside his heart, he took the milk and smiled, “thank you.”

“It should be me who should say thank you.
You helped me twice today.”

Jiang Chengyan took a sip of milk and said, “We are friends, we should help each other.”

“Friend…” Ling Hua’an curled the corners of his lips and said, “Yes, we are friends.
We should help each other.”

Jiang Chengyan drank the milk in one breath and said, “Hua’an, you should hire another night shift clerk.
The situation like today is dangerous.”

“This kind of thing rarely happens, it’s okay.
Hiring another clerk means another expense.
There are not many customers at night, so I can do it myself.
“

Jiang Chengyan asked with some hesitation, “Hua’an, have you been short of money recently? If so, I have it here.
We are friends.
If you have any difficulties, you must tell me.”

Ling Hua’an can’t help but chuckle, “Everyone else pretends to be poor for fear that someone will come to borrow money.  It’s good for you, just like being afraid that no one will borrow money.”

“Then you have to divide the people3…” Jiang Chengyan muttered in a low voice.

“What?”

“It’s nothing.  Anyway, if you are short of money, you must tell me.
I may not be able to help with other things, but I still have some money.”

“No.  It’s getting late, you should hurry to go back home.
You still have to work tomorrow.”

Jiang Chengyan looked at the clock on the wall subconsciously and asked, “Are you sure it’s alright for you to be alone?”

“I’ve opened this store for three years, and I’ve been on the night shift alone for three years.
What’s wrong with that? Go back quickly and rest early.”

“Then be careful yourself.
If you have any problems, be sure to call me.
I’ll be there for you.”

Ling Hua’an smiled and nodded, while Jiang Chengyan turned around and left.

Footnotes

worrying too much/insecurity/uncertainties. ↺ A bad reputation.
An analogy has been broken simply ignore it or that things fall apart when you expect that you are already there, so be more careful when you are about to ‘get there’. ↺ Talking about the part-timers. ↺